We examined the association between parental educational level (PEL) and children’s food consumption and nutrient intake in a sample of Finnish 3- to 6-year-old preschoolers (n 811). The data were obtained from the cross-sectional DAGIS project, conducted in eight municipalities in Finland during 2015–2016. The food consumption and nutrient intake were assessed using food records. The highest educational level of the family was used as the indicator of socio-economic status. Differences in diet by PEL were analysed using a hierarchical linear model adjusted for energy intake. Compared with high PEL, low PEL was associated with a child’s lower consumption of fresh vegetables and salads, vegetarian dishes, berries, white bread, blended spread, skimmed milk and ice cream but higher consumption of milk with 1–1·5 % fat content, dairy-based desserts and sugar-sweetened soft drinks. Food consumption was also examined after disaggregating dishes into their ingredients. Low PEL was associated with lower consumption of vegetables, nuts and seeds, berries and fish but higher consumption of red meat. Children in the low PEL, compared with the high PEL group, had a lower intake of protein, fibre, EPA, DHA, vitamin D, riboflavin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin C, potassium, phosphorous, Ca, Mg, Zn and iodine but a higher intake of fat and saturated, trans and MUFA. The observed diet-related disparities highlight the need for policy actions and interventions supporting healthy eating patterns such as high consumption of vegetables, nuts and berries in childhood, paying special attention to those with low PEL.

Compliance to UK dietary recommendations was assessed in school-aged children from a population-based cohort: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). A Children’s Eatwell Guide (C-EWG) score was developed to assess socio-demographic predictors of meeting dietary recommendations. ALSPAC children with plausible diet diary data at 7 years (n 5373), 10 years (n 4450) and 13 years (n 2223) were included in the study. Their dietary intakes (recorded between 1998 and 2006) were compared with dietary guidelines for total and saturated fats, free sugars, salt, fibre, protein, carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, non-oily and oily fish and red/processed meat. The C-EWG score (0–9 points) indicated the number of recommendations met at each age. Cross-sectional associations between socio-demographic characteristics and C-EWG scores were assessed using multivariable regression. The lowest adherence to guidelines at 7 years was for sugar (0·1 % meeting recommendations), followed by fibre (7·7 %), oily fish (9·5 %), saturated fat (9·7 %) and fruit and vegetables (15·2 %). Highest adherence was for limiting red/processed meat (67·3 %) and meeting carbohydrate recommendations (77·3 %). At 7 years, 12·1 % of participants failed to meet any of the nine recommendations, 26·9 % met one and 28·2 % met two. Similar patterns were seen at 10 and 13 years. A lower social class and maternal educational attainment and higher maternal BMI were associated with meeting fewer recommendations. Most school-aged children in this cohort did not meet UK dietary recommendations, particularly children from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Additional public health initiatives are needed to improve the quality of UK children’s diets, particularly targeting lower socio-economic groups.

Increasing the availability of lower energy food options is a promising public health approach. However, it is unclear the extent to which availability interventions may result in consumers later ‘compensating’ for reductions in energy intake caused by selecting lower energy food options and to what extent these effects may differ based on socio-economic position (SEP). Our objective was to examine the impact of increasing availability of lower energy meal options on immediate meal energy intake and subsequent energy intake in participants of higher v. lower SEP. In a within-subjects design, seventy-seven UK adults ordered meals from a supermarket ready meal menu with standard (30 %) and increased (70 %) availability of lower energy options. The meals were delivered to be consumed at home, with meal intake measured using the Digital Photography of Foods Method. Post-meal compensation was measured using food diaries to determine self-reported energy intake after the meal and the next day. Participants consumed significantly less energy (196 kcal (820 kJ), 95 % CI 138, 252) from the menu with increased availability of lower energy options v. the standard availability menu (P < 0·001). There was no statistically significant evidence that this reduction in energy intake was substantially compensated for (33 % compensated, P = 0·57). The effects of increasing availability of lower energy food items were similar in participants from lower and higher SEP. Increasing the availability of lower energy food options is likely to be an effective and equitable approach to reducing energy intake which may contribute to improving diet and population health.

Food insecurity is an important public health concern; however, research into this phenomenon within the Netherlands is limited. Food insecurity is not solely related to individual factors, but can also be influenced by various factors in the social and physical environment. Therefore, this study aimed to identify determinants of food insecurity within the personal, social and physical environment, based on the social ecological model (SEM), and to identify their relative importance for experiencing food insecurity. The study population consisted of 307 participants living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods of the Dutch city The Hague, of which approximately one-quarter were food insecure. Participant characteristics showing bivariate associations P < 0⋅20 were placed in a predetermined level of the SEM, after which a multivariate logistic regression was performed for each level and the Nagelkerke pseudo R2 was presented. Determinants of food insecurity were BMI, gross monthly income, highest educational attainment, smoking status, diet quality, employment status, marital status and religion (P < 0⋅05). The results showed that 29⋅7 % of the total variance in food insecurity status was explained by all included determinants together. The personal, social and physical environment explained 20⋅6, 14⋅0 and 2⋅4 % of the total variance, respectively. Our findings suggest that determinants within the personal environment are most important for explaining differences in experienced food insecurity. The present study contributes to furthering the knowledge about the relative importance of the personal, social and physical environment, indicating that determinants within the personal environment may be most promising for developing targeted interventions to reduce food insecurity.

Inflammatory diets are increasingly recognised as a modifiable determinant of mental illness. However, there is a dearth of studies in early life and across the full mental well-being spectrum (mental illness to positive well-being) at the population level. This is a critical gap given that inflammatory diet patterns and mental well-being trajectories typically establish by adolescence. We examined the associations of inflammatory diet scores with mental well-being in 11–12-year-olds and mid-life adults. Throughout Australia, 1759 11–12-year-olds (49 % girls) and 1812 parents (88 % mothers) contributed cross-sectional population-based data. Alternate inflammatory diet scores were calculated from a twenty-six-item FFQ, based on the prior literature and prediction of inflammatory markers. Participants reported negatively and positively framed mental well-being via psychosocial health, quality of life and life satisfaction surveys. We used causal inference modelling techniques via generalised linear regression models (mean differences and risk ratios (RR)) to examine how inflammatory diets might influence mental well-being. In children and adults, respectively, a 1 sd higher literature-derived inflammatory diet score conferred between a 44 % (RR 95 % CI 1·2, 1·8) to 57 % (RR 95 % CI 1·3, 2·0) and 54 % (95 % CI 1·2, 2·0) to 86 % (RR 95 % CI 1·4, 2·4) higher risk of being in the worst mental well-being category (i.e. <16th percentile) across outcome measures. Results for inflammation-derived scores were similar. BMI mediated effects (21–39 %) in adults. Inflammatory diet patterns were cross-sectionally associated with mental well-being at age 11–12 years, with similar effects observed in mid-adulthood. Reducing inflammatory dietary components in childhood could improve population-level mental well-being across the life course.

Apparent differences in the adoption of the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet have been reported between less and more educated individuals. However, the mediating role of income has not been clarified. In this study, we aimed at quantifying the mediating effect of income on the relationship between education and the DASH score in the UK population. We analysed data on 4864 subjects aged 18 years and older collected in three waves of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2008–2016). The DASH score was calculated using sex-specific quintiles of DASH items. We carried out a counterfactual-based mediation analysis to decompose the total effect of education on DASH score into average direct effect and average causal mediation effect mediated by income. We found that the overall mediating effect of income on the relationship between education and the DASH score was only partial, with an estimated proportion mediated ranging between 6 and 9 %. The mediating effect was higher among females (11·6 %) and younger people (17·9 %). Further research is needed to investigate which other factors may explain the socio-economic inequality in the adoption of the DASH diet in the UK.

With the expansion of credit, low interest rates and overly optimistic expectations about future economic and housing price developments, mortgage lending soared in most OECD countries in the run-up to the 2008 global economic crisis. The crisis revealed the hidden epidemic of over-indebtedness, which continues to overshadow the lives of millions in rich countries. In the wake of the global economic crisis, the household debt crisis led to worsening economic conditions and put pressure on government finances, which caused further income shocks in the form of austerity measures such as social welfare cuts and higher taxes. This article is based on a scoping review aimed at summarising and reflecting on the available literature. It analyses the effects of over-indebtedness on individuals and societies across six OECD countries: Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the US.

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is an effective measure in the prevention and treatment of CVD. We evaluated recent trends in socio-economic differences in the DASH score in the UK population, using education, occupation and income as proxies of socio-economic position (SEP). We analysed data on 6416 subjects aged 18 years and older collected in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2008–2016). The DASH score was calculated using sex-specific quintiles of DASH items. Multiple linear regression and quantile regression models were used to evaluate the trend in DASH score according to SEP. The mean DASH score was 24 (sd 5). The estimated mean difference between people with no qualification and those having the highest level of education was −3·61 (95 % CI −4·00, −3·22) points. The mean difference between subjects engaged in routine occupations and those engaged in high managerial and professional occupations was −3·41 (95 % CI −3·89, −2·93) points and for those in the first fifth and last fifth of the household income distribution was −2·71 (95 % CI −3·15, −2·28) points. DASH score improved over time, and no significant differences in the trend were observed across SEP. The widest socio-economic differences emerged for consumption of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes. Despite an overall increase in the DASH score, a persisting SEP gap was observed. This is an important limiting factor in reducing the high socio-economic inequality in CVD observed in the UK.

Socio-economic circumstances influence later-life employment participation, which may take different forms as retirement processes are complex. We aimed to explore the diverse effects of various socio-economic sub-domains on pre- and post-retirement employment. We used Finnish register data to examine socio-economic predictors of time to retirement (i.e. receiving the statutory pension) using Cox regression analysis and on time spent in post-retirement employment using repeated negative binomial regression analysis over a follow-up between the ages of 63 and 68, i.e. the flexible pension age range. An average wage earner still employed at age 62 spent 13.5 months in pre-retirement employment (this corresponds to time to retirement) and 4.8 months in post-retirement employment. Those with tertiary education retired later, but the educational differences in the total time spent in employment were small when post-retirement employment was also considered. There was little variation in the timing of retirement by household income, but those in the highest quintile spent the longest time in post-retirement employment. Upper non-manual employees, home renters and those with high household debt retired later, and those with high household debt also spent a longer time in post-retirement employment. In a national flexible pension age system, high occupational class and household income thus appear to encourage either later retirement or participation in post-retirement employment. However, economic constraints also appear to necessitate continued employment.

The authors use Structural Equation Modelling techniques to analyse the determinants of wellbeing amongst older adults using data from the first wave of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a rich source of data on people aged over 50 and living in private households. The analysis uses a two-group linear statistical model to explore the influence of socio-economic position on the wellbeing of men and women, with Full Information Maximum Likelihood estimation to handle missing data. The fit indices for the final model are highly satisfactory and the measurement structure is invariant by gender and age. The results indicate that socio-economic position has a significant direct influence on wellbeing and a strong indirect influence which is mediated by health status and lifestyle. The total standardised effect of Socio-economic Position on Socio-emotional Wellbeing is statistically significant (p ⩽ 0.05) and equal to 0.32 (men) and 0.43 (women), a very strong influence which risks being underestimated in standard multivariate models. The authors conclude that health, cognitive functioning and wellbeing reflect not just the ageing process, but also the impact of social inequalities across the lifecourse and how they are transmitted across different life spheres. These results can help to orient future research on factors which mediate between socio-economic position and wellbeing, an important policy-related issue.

Children’s learning about food is considerable during their formative years, with parental influence being pivotal. Research has focused predominantly on maternal influences, with little known about the relationships between fathers’ and children’s diets. Greater understanding of this relationship is necessary for the design of appropriate interventions. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between the diets of fathers and their children and the moderating effects of fathers’ BMI, education and age on these associations. The diets of fathers and their first-born children (n 317) in the Melbourne Infant Feeding Activity and Nutrition Trial (InFANT) Program were assessed using an FFQ and 3×24-h recalls, respectively. The InFANT Program is a cluster-randomised controlled trial in the setting of first-time parents groups in Victoria, Australia. Associations between father and child fruit, vegetable, non-core food and non-core drink intakes were assessed using linear regression. The extent to which these associations were mediated by maternal intake was tested. Moderation of associations by paternal BMI, education and age was assessed. Positive associations were found between fathers’ and children’s intake of fruit, sweet snacks and take-away foods. Paternal BMI, education and age moderated the relationships found for the intakes of fruit (BMI), vegetables (age), savoury snacks (BMI and education) and take-away foods (BMI and education). Our findings suggest that associations exist at a young age and are moderated by paternal BMI, education and age. This study highlights the importance of fathers in modelling healthy diets for their children.